GEORGE NEWS - Mitch Reardon, author of wildlife books and former ranger, is happily ensconced in a coastal-jungle housing estate in Wilderness where he takes advantage of total tranquillity to write his next book.
He relishes seeing a Cape eagle owl swooping almost right up to his study window and the prolific birdlife. His daily routine involves taking a brisk 10km walk at the crack of dawn down to the beach and back through the Ebb & Flow section of the SANParks Garden Route National Park. On one of his walks, he encountered a mother caracal (rooikat) and her three cubs.
"I just stood dead still and watched them playing - it was a magical moment."
Usually, Mitch's sightings are from a vehicle and getting this close to wild animals in a semi-urban setting is something he cherishes.
Wild Karoo
For his new book Wild Karoo, a glossy coffee table book laced with photos he took himself, he made a 4 000-kilometre journey of discovery through the entire Karoo region.
The Riemvasmaak people who live along the Orange River, the rugged rocky scenery of the Tankwa Karoo, and the Augrabies area made an indelible impression on him. "On my second visit to the Tankwa, this time in spring at the end of the wet season, I developed a growing connection to this seemingly inhospitable place. I had become more aware of the patterns and relationships that exist between the land, the weather and the animals."
Mitch describes himself as a pragmatist and instead of focusing on the deeply disturbing slaughtering of elephants, lions and rhinos, he prefers to take heart from the fact that there is now more land in conservation and wildlife than ever before on account of the many wildlife ranches and game farms that are blossoming all over South Africa.
Unique, abundant fauna and flora
The book focuses on local nature conservation in all its facets, including the game, birds, reptiles and invertebrates; the unique, arid-adapted flora; the landscape and geology as well as the history and lifestyle of the people who have made a home here.
He also discusses plans to combine public and private protected land to create wildlife corridors between isolated parks, re-establishing old migration routes and so reversing some of the effects of human settlement.
Beautifully written and illustrated with evocative photographs, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in travel, wildlife and the environment. Mitch has produced seven books, including the best-selling Etosha: Life and Death on an African Plain and Shaping Kruger, and has also written extensively for Australian Geographic.
Elephant translocation
"Yes, I agree," he says. "I do have a rather privileged existence. In a couple of weeks I've been invited down to Addo to cover the capture and translocation of 28 elephants."
'We bring you the latest George, Garden Route news'
